'Chant has sixth sense,' says real estate colleague

Intuitive timing and a personal touch are Davis Chant's success secrets, according to Tom Wilkins, CEO of Wilkins and Associates Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

Intuitive timing and a personal touch are Davis Chant's success secrets, according to Tom Wilkins, CEO of Wilkins and Associates Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

"With the deal for Great Wolf, the first water park in the Poconos, Chant singlehandedly restarted the resort business when the honeymoon business was being lost to Jamaica and Disney World," said Wilkins, whose father, a resort owner, invented the heart-shaped bath tub.

"Chant has a sixth sense about what will work, where, when. It's timing. The seller doesn't usually know they want to sell, and the buyer doesn't know they want to buy. He thought a water park would work well here. Let me find a buyer and some real estate."

Wilkins was selling leather goods about 40 years ago at Sundance Leathers in Delaware Water Gap when he met Chant — "a conservative dresser with an artsy side" — who came in and bought furniture and briefcases.

"He claims to still have them," says Wilkins. "He was a big spender."

Later, when Wilkins was working as general manager and sales director for Caesar's Pocono Resorts and wanted to move on as an entrepreneur, Chant and his partner, Peter Helms, were mentors in real estate, says Wilkins. Along with learning about making the big sale, Wilkins learned to make the small gesture, he said — sending a client a relevant note or news article.

"I was supposed to start with Dave in 1985 and open the Monroe office, but was 'stolen away' by Coldwell Banker," Wilkins recalls with a smile. "I was there for three years, then out on my own. But I bet my bottom dollar, if I'd gone to work for Chant, I would still be there today. He's done some really big commercial deals, and I learned a lot from him. He's got knowledge, style and sincerity."